Forgivness
by jeangreydarkphoenix
Summary: After turning away from evil, Xena and Gabrielle run into someone that Xena hasn't seen for 9 years; her daughter.
1. Chapter 1

Forgiveness

Forgiveness

The girl who answered the door left no doubt in Xena's mind that she had come to the right place. The girl looked up at them, it was clear she was nervous around these woman; a warrior and her sidekick. Both of the women where at least two feet taller then her.

Gabrielle was the first to talk, "Hi there. Is there any grown ups we can talk to?" The girl shock her head. Gabrielle continued, "I'm Gabrielle and this is Xena. Who might you be?"

The girl answered after a moment, "Meg."

Gabrielle smiled, "We are travelers. We have come hoping for some lodging for the night."

The girl continued to stare at them until a voice was heard from within by an older girl "Meg! What are you doing?" She appeared at the door, "Go finish up your chores." She hustled the girl away. Once Meg was gone the older girl started to speak, "I'm sorry she is so quiet but curious. I'm Carnation and I overheard you say you needed lodgings for a night?"

Xena finally spoke, "Yes and we'll gladly pay you for your troubles."

Carnation nodded, "No need you are most welcome to what we have. It isn't a lot but do come in." Once they were both inside they took a look around the place. There were some cracks in the walls and some places were in need of desperate repair but overall it seemed cozy. "This is a home for children run by Miss Sophie, you will meet her when she gets back from town."

Xena looked around besides Meg there were no children in sight, "Where are the others?"

Carnation looked sad, "Most of them died a short while ago by some fever. Meg and another boy were the only survivors."

"That's terrible!" Gabrielle exclaimed.

Carnation nodded, "5 in all were taken. Left Miss Sophie devastated."

Looking around the place and into Carnations eyes, she didn't believe the children had been taken through an illness. Something was going on here and she intended to find out what.

As Gabrielle and Xena ate their evening meal they were both aware of tiny eyes watching them from behind a barrel. Gabrielle knew because she was sitting where she could see the girl and Xena because she could hear the girl breathing. For the afternoon the two women had been resting in their for the night room. They both had been invited to eat so now they were eating a meal of fish and rolls. Gabrielle finally got tired of the girl watching them and said in her usual innocent voice, "You can come out now. We won't hurt you. Come sit and eat with us."

Although very timid Meg was persuaded by food. She stood up from where she hid and eyed them over again. The blond woman waved her over so she joined them, never taking her eyes off of Xena and Xena's weapons. A few silent moments followed as Meg took a seat on Gabrielle's side of the table. She finally had the courage to ask Xena, "Are you a warrior?" Xena nodded very aware of how Meg had been looking at her. Meg asked again in the same timid voice, "Who do you fight for?"

Xena answered in a calm voice afraid to scare the child, "People who need help. For the greater good."

The child gave a slight smile and asked Gabrielle, "What do you do?"

Gabrielle answered while she fixed the girl a roll and put fish into it, "I'm a bard. In fact, I just got out of the Athens Academy of the Performing Bards."

Meg smiled a bit more seeming to like Gabrielle after all, "Tell me a story please."

Gabrielle was more than happy at the chance of telling a story. She handed Meg the fish roll and began telling the story of how she and Xena met. Xena noticed how Meg scarfed down the roll like she hadn't had food in a while. For a little bit it seemed as though Meg seemed to let down her barriers while listening to this strangers story.

"Meg!" Upon hearing Miss Sophie scream her name all of the barriers and child interest instantly drew from her face and she became the stiff child the women had first met. She hoped out of her seat and flew towards the back door exiting. Miss Sophie's voice caught up with her outside, "You leave those women alone. They have no time for your nonsense." Miss Sophie gapped her arm. Meg fought back for Miss Sophie had a grip like a snake. Miss Sophie's hand dug into Megs arm until there was an even tighter grip on her arm. Miss Sophie looked up shocked to see her staring into the eyes of the Warrior Princess.

Xena's voice was now commanding, "Leave her be."

Miss Sophie let go of Meg and her appearance changed from a blood thirsty beat to a loving care giver, "Run along dear, go finish your chores." Meg ran away into the barn.

"What right have you to hurt a child? Especially one that is in your care."

"Hurt a child? You've mistaken I did not hurt her. Just keeping her on track." Miss Sophie gave her a slight smile, "Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do."

Xena watched the women leave as her eyes returned to the barn where Meg had gone. Debating for a moment if to follow her or not. She finally decided not to and went back inside to finish her evening meal.

Xena could not sleep, she kept thinking about the girl and how she was. She hadn't told Gabrielle why she was so interested in the girl. Nor would she unless it was absolutely necessary. Looking at the child Xena still could not believe she had found her so easily. And if she did so would the Gods. Xena had to get her out of there. Still she knew it was late and the girl was probably asleep.

Not wanting to wake Gabrielle who slept on the bed besides her Xena ventured into the kitchen. She saw Carnation sitting at the table with a drink in front of her. Xena walked over to her and Carnation jumped a bit, startled. "I didn't mean to startle you." Xena apologized.

"Its alright. Can I get you some tea?"

"Please." Xena said as she sat down. A few moments later Carnation returned with a mug and set it before the warrior princess. Xena nodded her thanks. They sat in silence for a few moments watching the fire burn in the fireplace then Xena asked, "How old are you?"

"13."

"I don't suppose you are Miss Sophie's child." Xena said taking a sip.

"Oh no miss. Miss Sophie's taken care of me since I was a little thing. And now to help out I help take care of the young ones."

Xena nodded then noticed a deep cut on the child's upper arm, "Where did you get that?"

Carnation instantly covered it with her free hand, "I…uh…got hit by a horse."

Xena had all of the information she needed now, "Those children…they weren't killed by an illness were they?"

Carnation looked away. This lie had gone far enough but still she had her reasons for lying. She could tell the warrior princess knew better. She sighed, "Miss Sophie….she means well but…she gets in these moods where she hears things that aren't there…." Suddenly she got defensive and stood up, "Just leave it alone." She said as she exited the room. This person came in and stuck her nose where it didn't belong. Carnation wanted help for herself and the others but a traveler wasn't going to solve anything.

Xena finished her drink and decided to go outside to investigate. Outside it was dark and cold. But none of this bothered Xena she loved the cold, she embraced it. Still she shivered a bit. Her ears picked up a sound in the barn. She was about to shrug it off as an animal but she heard a low cry. Xena ran towards the barn.

"I'll teach you to obey me!" Miss Sophie cried as the brought down the horses whip on her victim, Meg. Meg cried as the whip hit her across the back as the other times it had. Meg was tied with leather bound rope to a wooden pool in the middle of the barn. Meg's back was numb with the beatings she had received this evening. Her face was bruised with the slaps and the punches she had received when she dared to talk right now. "You rotten orphan! I take you in and this is how you repay me!" Miss Sophie's breath stunk of her intoxication as she brought the horsewhip down on Meg for the last time.

They both heard a cry as Xena appeared, imminently knocking Miss Sophie down to the ground. Miss Sophie cried up, "You bitch!" She screamed to Xena as Xena took her out with a punch to the face. She really wanted to give her the pinch but decided against it. Right now she had a girl to attend to. Xena turned around and faced the scared child. Xena could see blood seeping through Meg's plain grey one piece cloths. The child didn't wear any shoes. But now looked up at Xena terrified. Xena bent down to her level and started to look over her injuries. Before either one of them could say a word the child fell down to the ground, weak. Xena instantly untied her and scooped her up in her arms. She felt the child go limp in her arms.

Xena walked quickly to her and Gabrielle's room. Once inside she shouted, "Gabrielle!" Xena gently put Meg down on her bed, by now Meg had fainted from the pain.

Gabrielle rose slowly, "Xena, what's going on?" She noticed Meg on the bed and her cloths dirty and blood stained.

"Get me some blankets and water, hurry!" Xena said as she knelled by the bed. She saw the child's eyes open with fear in her eyes. Xena gave her a smile, "You're going to be alright." She assured the child as she smoothed back her black bangs softly.

Gabrielle soon returned with a dish of water and some sheets. Xena instantly tore the sheets and made rags to dip them into the water. She told Gabrielle, "We need to look at her back." Gently but forcefully Xena soon had Meg on her side then lifted up her shirt to see piles of blood. Xena shock her head as she took the rag and dipped it into the water, "This may sting a bit." She told the girl as she began to clean up the bloody mess. Gabrielle held Megs hand and soothed the girl while Xena worked. Suddenly she stooped, "Gabrielle look." She said as she was pointing to a deep long gash mark. Xena shock her head she couldn't believe anyone could do this to anyone else, especially a child. With that in mind she took out her sword and stuck it into the fire.

"What's going on?" Carnation asked as she came in. Seeing Megs wounds her eyes doubled in size.

Xena looked at her for a moment before answering, "Miss Sophie's mood swings." She then took her sword out of the fire. Sympathetically told Meg, "I need to put this into your wound so it will stop bleeding. It will hurt." Gabrielle tightly took a hold of Meg's hand as Xena put the burnt end of her sword into the deep wound. Meg screamed in pain as Xena moved the tip up and down making sure to get all of the wound. Once she was done she patted Meg on the side as if to say good job. Meg didn't feel her she had fainted from pain.

Xena told Carnation, "We need to get her out of here."

Carnation nodded, "Yes of course. There's a cave about two miles south of here. I go there to hide sometimes." Xena nodded her thanks. "I will bring the boy when it is morning. All of us leaving at once, that wouldn't be good."

Gabrielle agreed, "Be safe." Carnation smiled at them as she left to go back to her room. Xena already had picked up Meg and was ready to go. Gabrielle saw a determination in Xena's eyes that she had never seen before.

Gabrielle grabbed their bag and quickly followed after her friend.

Xena carried the unconscious child without saying a word. The girl had to weigh no more than 50 pounds and she was thin. Xena knew that was from starvation and she had to wonder how many times this girl had been put through this touchier.

It didn't take them long to reach the cave. Once they had Gabrielle put down a blanket on a dirt spot and Xena put down the unconscious child again without saying a word. Xena couldn't help but run her fingers through the child's bangs. As she did so she wiped a tear from her eyes.

The bard knew something was troubling Xena, her friend rarely cried and never like this, "Xena what's going on? You've been more quiet then usual since we got there."

Xena looked up at Gabrielle she knew she couldn't hide this forever from her best friend. She wasn't one to talk about her feelings but she knew Gabrielle would find out sooner or later. She smooth down the girls bangs affectionately again before telling her friend without looking up at her, "She's my daughter."


	2. Chapter 2

This information had almost left the bard speechless, "Your…daughter

This information had almost left the bard speechless, "Your…daughter? But…how?"

Xena could only look down at her child's face and smooth back her hair almost afraid to touch her anywhere else. It took a few moments for the warrior women to answer, "About ten years ago Ares and I had a…thing." Gabrielle's eyes widened not only did her friend have a child but she had a thing with Ares, the God of war. "Soon after we...I found out I was pregnant. I never told Ares and I started hating him after that." Xena obviously was repeating the events in her mind.

Gabrielle asked out of curiosity, "Why did you start hating Ares?"

Xena sighed, "Not long after realizing I was pregnant, I knew I had to hide it from him. Imagen what he would do with a half God child, not only that but his child." She looked into the flames and imagined the past in her mind, "I tried to go into hiding, from Ares from everyone. Just wanted to get away and have my child. Yes, I was still evil at that time but motherhood does something to you. You think only of that child growing within you." Another pause, "As you can imagen that didn't work very well. So to keep from Ares, and the rest of the Gods, from finding her and doing whatever to her I hid her. Soon after she was born I came upon a village and left her on the doorstep."

She seemed to stop as Gabrielle asked, "What happened next?"

Xena still stared into the flames, "A few months later I happened to go into this village again, only to find out that it had been burnt to the ground." She wiped a tear from her eye remembering that day, "There were some medallions that were left, Draco's army did it. However, after more digging on my part I was able to determine that Draco had no idea that my child had been there. He was just being Draco-ripping everything to spreads." She let there be silence between the two friends for a moment, "Years later though a tip came of some villagers that had escaped the attack. I finally found her-at that home where she was now. Back then she was just a little thing. But," Xena sat as tears came to her eyes, "I knew I couldn't take her with me. So I left her. Never returned till now, to afraid that the Gods might find out that she existed." Gabrielle wanted to question her more but knew her friend was in pain so she just put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

Meg awoke the next morning to pain. Every part of her was sore. But unfortunately she was used to it. Miss Sophie often taught the kids a lesson of this sort. She had never been so angry though. Meg was about ready to get up when she realized that she wasn't in the barn anymore. In fact looking around she didn't know where she was. She tried to sit up but failed.

Gabrielle, who was writing on some scrolls, turned to notice Meg was awake. Gabrielle smiled, "Well hello there. I suppose you could do with something to eat could you?" The girl looked at her blankly as Gabrielle went about removing the cooked yoke of the bird eggs from the pan on the fire that Xena had collected that morning. She presented it to the girl and noticing how weak Meg was started to feed her small bites. She spoke, "Those are good aren't they?"

Meg had never tasted anything so good in her life. She nodded upon taking another bit she started to gag. Gabrielle instantly stopped feeding her and trying to help she pulled the girl up in a sitting position to keep her airway clear, "Just breath." Gab told Meg. Meg nodded as her eyes swelled up and she followed Gab's orders and took a few deep breaths. She ended up letting some of the cooked eggs fall from her mouth onto the cave below.

"There now that's better." Gabrielle said as she sat behind Meg and let Meg put her back against Gab's front. Gabrielle had propped herself up on a near by rock. She expected the girl to pull away but she didn't. In fact Meg seemed to relax and enjoy the contact that she probably had never had.

A few moments later a figure appeared at the mouth of the cave. Gabrielle instantly knew who it was, "Joxer." She said flatly. She loved him as a friend but now did not seem like the right time for him to be popping into their lives again.

"It is I, my lady, Joxer the mighty." He entered as he took no notice of Meg at first, "Come to protect you against thy nemesis. Oh who's the little lady?" He said noticing Meg. Meg was clinging onto Gabrielle's arm scared.

"This is Meg." Gabrielle introduced, "Meg meet Joxer."

"The mighty." Joxer finished.

"Another warrior?" Meg whispered to Gabrielle.

"But of course. Joxer just sleighed another giant. And in doing so has again risen to the title of protector of the downtrodden." He bowed, "At your service."

"Well almost." Gabrielle told Meg. She gently moved Meg up so that she could sit up on her own as Gab stood up, "I'm going to find Xena. You think you can handle her Joxer?"

"But of course Joxer can handle anything."

As Gabrielle was at the mouth of the cave she looked back at Meg, "Don't be to hard on him." She winked at Meg then was off. Meg chuckled a bit like the carefree child she longed to be.

"Well my fair maiden," Joxer said taking off his hat, "What shall we do?"

Meg now got a good look at him. He did not seem in the least bit frightening in fact he almost looked like a village fool that she had witnessed one year when she snuck out. Looking at him asked, "Do you know any stories?"

Xena and Gabrielle returned later that afternoon to witness one of Joxer's heroic tales. For the first time Gabrielle and Xena heard Meg giggling wildly. The sound brought a smile to Xena's face as she saw Joxer with a sword, demonstrating moves of some made up battle he had won. Meg knew he was being silly and laughed at it. Xena noticed how her child had changed so much in so little of a time. Xena did not know who to thank for it but was glad of it.

Joxer fell onto the cave floor just as the women entered. Meg was red with laughter and coughed to catch her breath. As soon as she saw the serious look on Xena's face she stopped laughing and quieted herself down. Xena knew she had to tell the child but she didn't know how. She had just gotten her child back she did not want to lose her again.

Meg knew something was wrong. She was afraid that Xena had changed her mind and they were going to leave her there. If they did at least Meg was free and didn't have to worry about beatings. Xena approached Meg and knelt besides the child. Meg looked at her as if to ask, 'What's wrong?' Xena shock her head as she gently told her child, "Something terrible has happened." The look Meg gave her could have ripped out Xena's heart and thrown it on the cave floor.

"It can't be true it just can't be." Teary-eyed Meg said looking at the burnt down house that used to be hers. Xena stood besides her daughter with a heavy heart. A million thoughts raced through Meg's mind but all of them pointed back to her own self. She knew this was her fault for she had loved Carnation and the other boy but now they were dead. Everyone she had ever loved was now dead. She hated Miss Sophie with every being in her but Carnation would take care of her. Not anyone though. "It's all my fault." She said in a small voice.

Xena knelt besides her putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Hey don't talk that way. It was a terrible accident."

Meg sniffed, "Everyone I loved is dead." She sniffed some more hearing Miss Sophie's words in her ears, "I'm poison." She repeated in a low voice.

Xena drew the child to him in a hug, "Don't talk like that. That's not true and you know it." She held her while Meg cried. She tried to comfort her as best as she could. Xena wanted to tell her that everything would be alright now that they were reunited.

Megs tiny voice rung out in her ears, "I'm all alone." With that her sobs increased.

Xena held onto her unsure of what to say to comfort her but tried just the same, "Of course you're not. You have me-and Gabrielle and heck ever Joxer. We'll never leave you."

Meg started to relax as she hugged Xena, "thank you." She whispered. Xena smiled as she held onto her little girl. No one would ever take Meg away-not man nor God.

Xena finally pulled out of the hug, "Come on lets get going." She stood up taking Meg's small hand into her bigger one. She shouted at Gabrielle and Joxer who were looking around seeing if they could do anything, "Let's go!"

Meg smiled a little bit as she walked besides Xena. She usually feared warriors but Xena was somehow different. For the first time since that morning Meg felt the pain from her injuries as she started to walk. If she was good at one thing, it was hiding pain. Miss Sophie had often lashed at her with an insult or another beating if Meg let pain keep her from doing her numerous chores throughout the day. Miss Sophie said pain was weak and that the children should learn to rise above it.

For the first half mile or so Meg tried to ignore the pain in her lower legs. Then suddenly she stopped she could not ignore pain from walking anymore. She looked timidly up at everyone as they stopped to see that Meg had stopped. "I'm….I'm sorry…I can't go on."

Joxer came up with an idea, "Hey Meg, ever had a piggy back ride?"

"A what?" Meg was confused.

Joxer smiled as he came closer to her and bent down, his back towards her, "Climb on." He invited. Meg was still wondering what was going on but obeyed. Joxer stood up and started to walk faster and faster. Meg held on tight but soon began to enjoy her first piggyback ride. Xena smiled as she watched the two, she would never had guessed that Joxer would be one of the first to reach Meg.

The foursome finally reached the cave as the sun had set a while back. Now Xena was carrying Meg in her arms. For the last leg of their journey Xena had volunteered to carry the girl. Now Meg was asleep in Xena's arms perfectly relaxed. Knowing that her daughter had trusted her enough to fall asleep in her arms made Xena smile on the inside.

She walked over towards Meg's blanket and gently set the sleeping girl down. Xena watched her sleep for a while longing to tell her that she was her mother. But not now she would wait till Meg was stronger and better acquainted with her new life. Xena just hoped that Ares would not find out about her till after Xena told Meg.

After watching her daughter for a while Xena tended to the fire. A while later both Gabrielle and Joxer were laying down on blankets. Joxer was asleep and Gabrielle was reading her scrolls making a mark here and there.

Xena couldn't help herself she laid down next to her sleeping kid. She drew her daughter close to her as she stroked the girls hair. She soon noticed Gabrielle looking at them. Gabrielle gave Xena a smile. Xena smiled a bit back. Before Xena knew it she had fallen asleep with Meg in her arms.


End file.
